Coffee's For Closers
by wellversedinconverse
Summary: One night stands are not her thing. All she wants to do is forget but how can she possibly do so now that the one thing she's avoiding decides to purchase his daily coffee from the place she so happens to work at? AU AH. Includes femslash and slash.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys. This is an AU All Human fic. I thought it would be fun to write something like this since I normally just deal with the non-vamp side to TVD anyways :P I've had this idea for a fic for a while so here it is! Enjoy and please review :)**

As Elena Gilbert wakes, bleary eyed and with a piercing headache drilling away at her temple, the first thing she notices is that she is in a much larger and more comfortable bed than her own. _Curious_.

The second thing she notices is the numbers 10:35 blinking obnoxiously at her from the alarm clock on the bedside table, indicating how _very_ late she is for her morning shift. She was supposed to start with her roommate Caroline, who is now most likely plotting her death.

She winces and contemplates on taking a much needed mental health day, her hopes simultaneously crushing as she bitterly recalls her Journalism exam in the afternoon.

The third and very last thing she notices before her eventual freak out is the very naked man currently spooning her equally naked self.

_Fuck_.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

She surreptitiously turns her head and catches a glimpse of a chiselled jaw line and thick dark locks.

Okay, so there _was_ a reason that she actually went home with the guy.

Attractive, great biceps, lean muscles and…WHOA!

Quite well-endowed.

That explains the throbbing in between her legs…

After Elena finishes mentally congratulating herself on a job well done, she realizes that she needs to get the _hell_ out of this very sexy and luxurious place, and _quickly_.

Whilst miraculously peeling herself away without waking her morning companion, she begins to hunt for her clothes.

She finds her skirt and tank top on a stack of dusty books near the bed, but much to her dismay, her bra and underwear are no where to be found.

What the hell did they _do_ last night?

"_Morning_," a smooth, bedroom voice says and startles/scares the shit out of Elena, as she quickly puts her clothes back on before turning around to face her glorious mistake.

She's met with a pair of piercing, cerulean blue eyes that makes her weak at the knees and a knowing smirk that makes her want to slap it right off his face.

"Hi," she answers back awkwardly as he suddenly gets up from bed (to her horror) completely unabashed by being seen in the buff.

"So I've got to go now…thanks for letting me stay…?" she trails off, keeping her eyes trained on his face.

"Damon," he says with a chuckle.

"Sorry, my mind's kind of all over the place today," she half heartedly apologizes, wanting so badly to just run for it.

Her freaking _shift_! She's already dreading even glancing at her phone, no doubt having fifty missed calls and voice mail messages because Caroline is a maniac like that.

"That's quite alright, Elena," Damon answers and _that_ catches her off guard.

"How did you…?" she asks and thanks the lord that he's decided to put on some goddamn pants!

"Kind of hard to forget such a beautiful name, isn't it Russian for Light?" he asks simply.

As cheesy as the line is, Elena can't help but blush, "Yes…it is…"

"_Plus_ I handled my alcohol a lot better than you last night so my memory of our wonderful tryst is still intact. Are you _always_ such an animal? I've still got the scratches!" he adds teasingly turning around and lo and behold, there are definite red scratch marks right across his muscular back.

It's like she missed a step down a staircase.

She feels like sinking into the polished and pretentious hard wood floor.

_Forever_.

"_O_kay it's really time for me to go, nice meeting you Damon," she manages to snap back, and with an exasperated sigh, makes her way out of his bedroom.

No _way_ is she going to let this gorgeous dick of a guy get under her skin! She did _not_ have any time for it!

Literally!

"Alright, see you later!" He calls back and she can hear the laughter in his voice.

"Not likely!"

It's official.

She hated him.

And she was also… So. Freaking. Late!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! You guys are amazing! I apologize for the characters being a little OOC. I'm kind of writing Elena as pre-car crash, fun, party girl, Elena as opposed to grave yard girl lol. Hope that makes sense. Anyways, enjoy and please review!**

So she's probably overreacting just a _little_ bit. She couldn't _really_ hate him. He was basically a stranger after all.

Granted that he was probably _the_ most crazy hot stranger that she's ever seen in her life but… he was a stranger none the less.

And she was in college for crying out loud! She was supposed to do stupid things like have one night stands, especially after consuming copious amounts of alcohol and basically just having one of _those_ nights where she felt so emotionally vulnerable.

It was done and dusted.

She can finally move on and tick that off her bucket list!

As of now, Elena Gilbert lives on the edge!

At least… that's what she continues to tell herself on the way to work/facing the wrath of one, Miss Caroline Forbes.

She takes a deep breath and pushes the door of Duke's only independent coffeehouse on campus: The Mystic Bean (the employees and their loyal customers unanimously disregard the Starbucks two streets away) and mentally wills for her lady balls to grow on the spot.

Sadly such genetic mutations do not occur and Elena winces as she sees the murderous look in place of Caroline's usual bouncy, blondes-_do_-have-more-fun exterior.

"Before you say anything, remember that I'm so _incredibly_ sorry and that I love you and you can eat my chunky monkey ice-cream, take two hour showers in the morning and borrow my leather jacket (because I know you've been wearing it anyway) any time you want!" Elena says quickly and puts her hands up in defence.

She keeps a safe distance by staying on the other side of the counter with Anna (one of their regulars, caffe mocha _soy_) as a shield.

"Coffee is on the house _forever_ if you stop Barbie here from poking my eyes out with a spork," Elena stage whispers in Anna's ear.

"And that's why you're my favourite barista, Elena" Anna replies amusedly, salutes with her coffee and makes her way down to her usual table.

Caroline narrows her eyes, looking livid.

"Please tell me that you've killed Elena Gilbert and taken over her body because no _way_ would she walk out of the house free-boobing it and leave her hair gross and unwashed like it's the goddamn 70s!" the blonde exclaims shrilly while throwing an apron at Elena's head.

"Okay, maybe I deserve that a little. But can we refrain from speaking in such high octaves for the rest of the day? My head is killing me!" Elena pleads as she ties on the apron and makes her way around the counter.

"_Fine_! You know who I had to call to fill in for you? Your pothead freshman brother! And _he_ only agreed to work today because I told him Anna was coming!" Caroline hisses back and nudges her head at Jeremy Gilbert's direction where he was, sure enough flirting shamelessly with Anna, completely oblivious of table five's neglected refill.

"He seriously needs to find other ways to stalk girls," Elena says sympathetically.

"Alright, _enough_ about your brother! What exactly happened last night?" Caroline demands, all arms folded and foot a-tapping.

"Well…after you left me alone at the Blood Lines, I met a guy. Actually…why _did_ you leave me alone? You didn't hate the band that much?"

"Nuh-uh! You are _not _changing the subject! This is all about you, honey!"

Elena rolls her eyes at Caroline's determination. If only her friend put that much energy into their group assignments…

"Okay, so we hit it off, drank a little too much; I went back to his place and we did all of the cliché things that one does, ultimately getting together in the biblical sense," Elena confesses and is thankful that the Mystic Bean has hit a lull period where everyone has gotten their caffeine fix and are off procrastinating in some other shape or form.

"Oh you are _so_ boring! And none of this 'A lady never tells' bull crap! I want details, Elena! You haven't been with anyone in _months_!" Caroline answers back.

"Stop saying that like it's some kind of disease! And I don't see _you_ parading around with a gentleman on your arm, spinster sister!"

"Maybe I have, maybe I haven't! A lady never tells!"

"Ha! Gotcha!" Elena says, pointing her finger in triumph.

Her triumph however, is short lived as their newest customer walks into the coffeehouse.

There he was, Elena's recent gentleman caller, looking like he just stepped out of a page of this month's issue of GQ.

"_Whoa_! Who is _that_?" Caroline blurts out in approval.

Before Elena can even pretend to busy herself with a non existent order, Damon catches her eye and waves. Caroline gapes at her like a fish.

"What are you doing here, Damon? I thought you'd be more of a Starbucks kinda guy…" Elena manages to say and cringes inwardly at her overall lameness.

This is _so_ not how one-night stands are supposed to go!

"True…but my brother just started working there so I thought I'd piss him off by getting coffee here. What's an even bigger bonus is seeing you again…so soon," he replies, eyeing her appreciatively.

Elena blushes under his gaze.

Caroline however, seems like she's on the verge of spontaneously combusting right next to her.

"I actually have something for you just in case I _did_ run into you today…" he adds and rummages through his messenger bag.

"Oh… you do?" Elena asks curiously.

"Yeah, I found your underwear on the kitchen counter," he answers, nonchalantly holding up her very red and very lacy set of bra and panties, the raciest set that she owns.

Oh, _God_.

"Dayummm Elena!" says Caroline in awe.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you again for the reviews! They always make my day. I have a teensy little warning for this chapter since it contains some slight femme slash if you squint, don't fret though because this is always going to stay Damon/Elena. LOL. But it's just a heads up. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think after! **

"Jesus, Damon! What the hell is wrong with you?" Elena shouts hysterically, snatching her underwear out of his hands and stuffing them inside her apron pocket.

Jeremy and Anna suddenly look up from their private corner after hearing the commotion and to Elena's surprise/horror; Damon and Jeremy exchange a bro-nod and wave.

The bastard knew her _brother?_

"Oh and I'll take an espresso to go while I'm here," Damon says casually, completely ignoring Elena.

She stays rooted to the spot while imagining pouring boiling hot coffee on his smug little head.

"One espresso, coming up!" Caroline announces after her fit of giggles.

That _traitor_.

"Thank you, ladies! With such great service, I think I might come here more often. Ciao!" Damon bids as Caroline hands him his coffee and struts out of the Mystic Bean like the rock star he is.

"Okay, I totally take back everything I said. You can be late for work every day if I know you're hitting _that_ every night!" Caroline says approvingly.

"Hitting that? What are you fifteen? And _gross_! I'm regretting 'hitting that' more and more by the minute!" Elena replies, cringing at last night's stupidity.

"Whoa Elena! You hooked up with Damon? Not that I want any details or anything….because ew…" Jeremy chimes in and approaches the counter as Anna (sadly, the only sane person) leaves the coffeehouse for her midday lectures.

"How do you know him, then?" Elena snaps back and crosses her arms. She begins to give up hope of the day getting any better.

"Dude knows how to party, plus he's like an insane bass player. We jammed a couple times!" Jeremy says enthusiastically whilst building a miniature city out of empty coffee cups and plastic cutlery on the counter.

"I don't think bashing dad's old drum kit for five minutes classifies as jamming," Elena scoffs. She starts tearing down Jeremy's coffee cup buildings with the spork Caroline was threatening her with earlier in retaliation.

"You're such a Debbie downer! As a matter of fact we've got a couple of gigs coming up so don't be too upset if you're not on the guest list!"

"How am I ever going to get on with my life?"

"You _won't_."

* * *

><p>Elena grudgingly makes her way down to the Mystic Bean to make up for the hours she had lost in the morning. She had just finished her exam, one that she was sure to have flunked given her day long mental and physical exhaustion. She would give anything to just curl up in bed and sleep for the rest of her life.<p>

"Whoa you don't look so good, Elena," says Tyler bluntly, whom usually works the afternoon shift with Jeremy. He is also conveniently, Caroline's ex-boyfriend from high school.

"Way to make a girl feel special, I don't know how the ladies can resist you," Elena answers irritably while tying on her apron.

"You've got to stop hanging around Caroline so much, you're-starting-to-act-like-her," he says and sing songs the last half of the sentence.

She makes her way around the counter and starts to refill the sugar sachet container.

"I'm really sorry, Ty. You would _not_ believe the day I'm having!" she says apologetically because really, she couldn't take out her frustration on poor, clueless Tyler. She needed to find another, more Damon-shaped outlet for that.

Tyler's reply suddenly gets lost in the sound of clinking heels entering the coffeehouse. Elena immediately stands up straighter and brushes the stray strands of hair away from her face. Out of all the days _she_ chooses to get her coffee!

"Elena, babe! How's my favourite girl?" says Katherine Pierce, her gorgeous mane of brunette curls cascading around her shoulders like a shampoo commercial.

She's dressed in her usual skin-tight jeans, hugging her curves in all the right places and okay maybe Elena has a tiny girl crush on her.

Who is she kidding? Maybe Elena was sort of, in a way… in love…

It's not like she's going to propose a civil union and adoption of babies any time soon.

No, it wasn't like that.

She didn't even realize that she was harbouring any sort of feelings until a few months ago, where she found Katherine next to the ugly, cob-webbed candle stand (Isobel, the eccentric owner of the Mystic Bean insisted on staying true to the name with various vintage pieces making the coffeehouse look like something out of Harry Potter) sitting in the far corner immersed in "Call of the Wild" by Jack London.

They ended up discussing the book at length and Elena realized how there was so much more to Katherine's beauty and charm. She was…well. _Deep_.

"I've had better days, how about you Miss Katherine?" Elena manages to reply as she snaps out of her reverie.

"Aww did you have a rough weekend? Whenever I have one of those days, I come here for a pick me up!" Katherine says sympathetically and reaches over the counter to gently stroke Elena's cheek.

Elena feels her face grow hot.

"Don't I get some love too, Kat?" Tyler pipes in, being one of the many whom succumb to Katherine Pierce's charms.

"I would _never_ forget about you, Ty!" she replies, giving Tyler two quick kisses on each cheek.

"So what can I get for you, today?" Elena asks, half wanting to have Katherine's attention back on her as Tyler leaves the counter to serve table three's coffee and croissants.

"One of your delicious Chai lattes, please!"

"Excellent choice, milady!" Elena says and feels her mood lighten up in Katherine's presence.

A feeling that disappears just as quickly as it arrives when another customer bursts in the Mystic Bean for the second time that day.

"Oh my God, Damon Salvatore!" Katherine squeals as Damon appears beside her, usual smirk in place.

"Katherine, long time no see!" he replies smoothly as he leans closer, practically flush up against Katherine.

"Come here," Katherine says boldly and pulls him in for a passionate, open mouthed kiss (possibly with tongue from Elena's angle).

Elena is suddenly confused of whom she should be more jealous of (and if she feels like getting in on the action somehow.)

"Wow, so are you guys…?" Elena blurts out uneasily as they disentangle themselves from each other to look at her.

"Oh _no_, just old school friends, you know…" Katherine says, waving her hand casually.

"That slept together," Damon adds, the corner of his mouth quirking upwards at Elena's discomfort.

"Oh," is all Elena can say.

"Anyway, how do _you_ two know each other?" Katherine enquires, looking between them both.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys, really sorry for taking so long to update! Got distracted with real life etc. How amazing has Season 3 been so far? I certainly hope that it keeps getting better and better especially on the Damon/Elena front. Thank you so so much for the reviews! I love you all! Again this fic has mild slash and femme slash as I said in the warnings so I apologize if it squicks anyone out. Please take the time to review if you love or even hate this chapter. It's a little longer than the others, which is sort of my pathetic way to make up for the long wait. Anyways, enjoy!**

They both answer Katherine at the same time, jumbling their sentences.

"We share a class."

"We met at a gig."

"Well, we met in class _then_ went to the same gig."

"What she said."

Elena's eyes flicker up to meet Damon's, silently pleading for him not to tell Katherine about their little _encounter_. She has no idea how she feels like she can communicate with him without words, only knowing him for a short time, but he gives a fraction of a nod indicating that he understood.

She lets out a sigh of relief.

"What a small world," Katherine comments, ruby red lips smirking at the pair of them.

"Oh you have _no_ idea," says Damon while sneaking a glance at Elena, the emphasis on "no" makes her stomach flip.

"Well I should really go. Say hi to your brother Stefan for me, Damon! See you later, Elena dear!" Katherine bids farewell and saunters out of the Mystic Bean, hips swaying and the music of clinking heels fading away.

Elena turns her attention back to Damon, finding him studying her closely. The intensity of his expression unnerves her, his ice blue eyes feel like they're devouring her whole.

"Are you ordering anything?" she manages to spit out with a tinge of annoyance in her tone.

Good. Annoyed is good.

"No_p_e," he answers, making the "p" pop.

"Well, what do you want then?" she asks, brows furrowing.

He takes a beat and chuckles lightly at her.

"Look, I just wanted to come and apologize about this morning. I'm sorry if I embarrassed you, that wasn't my intention," He says almost sincerely, hand on his heart and she almost buys it.

_Almost_.

"I doubt that. You seem to take a lot of pleasure at my expense," she counters.

"That's true, you _do_ give me a lot of pleasure, Elena," he quips, his smirk wreaking havoc on her self-control. She grips the counter tightly.

"You did _not_ just say that!" she groans while giving him her perfected eye-roll.

"Okay, okay sorry! I'm kidding! The only other reason I came here was to… start a clean slate. I was wondering if I could…you know… extend the old olive branch and we could maybe be…_friends_?" he asks, blue orbs pleading earnestly.

She folds her arms across her chest and raises an eye brow.

Was he actually _serious_?

"I don't think I've had sex with any of my friends," Elena says in deadpan, making Damon chortle with laughter.

She moves away from the counter in an attempt to dodge Damon's further prodding by cleaning up table four. Unfortunately for her, Damon follows suit and stands so close to Elena that her back is flush up against his chest when she turns.

"Well then… we could be really _good_ friends…" He breathes in her ear seductively, lips barely grazing her skin.

Elena shakes her head, her attempt at a scoff turning into a whimper as she tries to ignore the shivers wracking through her body at his mere touch.

She mouths a sorry to an irritated Tyler whom is currently gesturing to the sudden rush of customers queuing up at the counter.

She takes a deep breath and turns to face Damon, his eyes twinkling with mirth.

"Okay _fine_. I guess I'd have to tolerate you somehow if you're going to be waltzing in here everyday," she acquiesces reluctantly.

"You make it seem like I'm forcing you to watch the new Twilight movie or something!"

"Well I _hate_ vampires so don't make me regret it."

* * *

><p>Elena sits while waiting for another dreaded 8am lecture to start, thankfully a pain that she can endure with her dearest and oldest friend, Caroline.<p>

Even though Caroline was majoring in business she had opted to take Modernist Literature with Elena as an elective. It wasn't as if they didn't spend _enough_ time with each other at work or at their little flat but Caroline was a sentimental pain in the ass like that, a trait that Elena couldn't help but love.

"_Friends?_ He wants to be _friends?"_

"Apparently! I am _so_ glad he didn't tell Katherine that we hooked up though, it would have been a nightmare!"

"Still holding that torch, I see…" Caroline says, giving Elena a knowing look.

"What do you mean? Katherine?" Elena asks as she takes out her books to busy herself and hide the blush creeping upon her cheeks.

"I mean don't get me wrong, together you'd be totally hot. But I just don't know if you guys would work out, you know? Plus there's that creepy resemblance between you two that's a little too twin-cesty."

"_Just_ because we both have brown eyes and brown hair doesn't mean we look the same!" Elena answers in defence.

"Um have you _looked_ in the mirror? She's you with a permanent perm!" Caroline exclaims and dramatically gestures at Elena's hair, causing the contents in her coffee flask to swish dangerously.

"Whatever, I just can't believe Damon practically knows every single one of my friends; it's weird right?"

"Kind of. So you said his brother's Stefan Salvatore?" Caroline asks as she sips her coffee and Elena is a little jealous that she didn't bring a flask of her own or at least think of dropping by the Mystic Bean earlier in the morning.

"Yeah, Stefan or Steven or something. Why? Do you know him?"

"Um yeah…I think he's in one of my classes…" Caroline trails off, playing with the flask lid and a suspicious logo suddenly catches Elena's eye.

"I'm sorry… but is that from STARBUCKS?" Elena asks in outrage, pointing at the offending beverage in her delusional friend's hand.

"Yes okay! It's from Starbucks! It was a present!" Caroline says defensively.

"We don't associate with anyone from _the other side, _Caroline Forbes!"

"I'm sorry, okay! My…._Dad_ got it for me a while ago; and no Elena, he has no clue about our petty rivalry with opposing coffee houses!" Caroline quickly hisses back, shoving her coffee in her bag, away from any more judgement.

"_Petty_ rivalry? Can you even hear yourself right now? I'm disappointed in you and I honestly don't think I can talk to you for at least… the rest of the lecture."

"I think you'll forget about not speaking to me if you turn your big head around, drama queen!"

"Wait, what are you -?"

A glimpse of a leather jacket and a shock of blue is enough to assure the instant sweaty palms and flip in her stomach.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Elena accidentally blurts out loud making Damon laugh as he approaches their seats in the far right of the lecture theatre.

"Good morning to you too, Elena! Caroline!" He says enthusiastically.

"Hey Damon!" Caroline greets back with equal enthusiasm, possibly just thankful for Damon taking Elena's mind off of her _serious_ transgression.

"Stalking is illegal you know," Elena quips, fighting back a smile.

"I know it looks kind of bad but I assure you, I've been taking this class since the start of semester, I've just been sitting over there the whole time," he answers and points to an empty seat a few rows down.

"Oh my God! _You_ used to sit right down _there_?" Caroline squeals and Elena suddenly realizes where this is going. She turns to face Caroline and makes cutting gestures at her throat.

_For the love of God, shut your big fat mouth for once in your life, Caroline Forbes!_

"You're _Bulging_ Biceps! I knew we've seen you before! We used to – _OW_ ELENA THAT WAS MY FOOT!"

Elena buries her face in her hands, not even daring to look at Damon's obviously smug expression.

"I'm _what_?" Damon asks amusedly.

"You're Bulging Biceps! Basically because all we could see was the back of you and your arms in that black shirt, _day in day out_. We've actually made nicknames for most of the people here because let's face it Professor Smith has _the_ most boring voice ever! You see that guy over there in the flannel has really bad hay fever so he's Sneezing Sam. We know his name's Sam since he's a regular at the Mystic Bean and oh that girl with the pink hair – "

"I think he gets the idea, Caroline!" Elena cuts Caroline off warningly, staring daggers at her.

"That's certainly very _interesting_," Damon replies, all of his attention on the very uncomfortable brunette.

"Well _I_ thought it was pretty fun!" Caroline whines, jutting her lip out to pout at Elena.

"Okay don't worry, I won't bother you guys any longer, just thought I'd say hi. I've actually got to talk to Elijah about something. Later!" Damon says, casually turning on his heel and making his way down to the front of the theatre.

Elena lets out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding.

"So Damon's on first name basis with the professor…" Caroline muses flippantly as she rummages through her bag.

As Professor Smith begins the lecture, Caroline opens up her laptop doing every other thing aside from taking notes. _Typical_.

A few more minutes in, Elena's concentration starts to waver and she glances onto Caroline's screen to see what kind of shenanigans her friend was currently up to.

"Oh my God, please don't tell me you're Facebooking him!" Elena hisses from the corner of her mouth.

"Just curious, is all!"

"Wait a second…_are you logged into my account_?"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I know I kinda suck at updating, so bear with me. 3x06 kind of didn't help my writer's block since it pretty much killed me with its perfection. Not gonna lie, the training session gave me a total lady boner LOL. **

**Thanks again for the reviews, I love you all. I didn't realize that this chapter would end up this long but I feel like it needs it. Anyway, enjoy and please review! **

Just as Elena arrives at the library, juggling her textbooks and laptop in her arms, her phone goes off with Caroline's name flashing bold and bright:

_SO sorry but I can't make it 4 our study sesh today! I probably won't be back by dinner either :( _

_xx _

"You've got to be kidding me," Elena grumbles irritably, nearly toppling over a chair in the process.

Note to self: Walking and texting might get you killed some day.

"Watch it!" a disgruntled girl says on her left.

"Sorry!" Elena apologizes and is suddenly quite tempted to swing her bag right into Disgruntled Girl's head in retaliation.

There was something seriously up with Caroline, she just knew it! Her friend was behind on studying for mid-terms as it was and if she didn't put her nose to the grindstone now, her GPA would suffer.

Plus the Caroline _she_ knew would never own any merchandise from such an evil corporation!

Well okay… maybe she wasn't over that Starbucks thing and… that Facebook thing and that… _Damon_ thing…

Okay _focus_, Elena.

She finally finds a vacant table and braces herself for a long and lonely night of cramming.

Text books, check. Laptop, check. Snacks, check. Caffeine, check. Katheri-

Wait what, Katherine?

And _Matt__ Donovan?_

Elena's ex-boyfriend from high school whom she hasn't spoken to in a year _since_ their break-up suddenly strolls into the library with the brunette beauty practically latched on to him, all starry eyes and girly giggles.

She feels her stomach sink and desperately tries to find a text book big enough to obscure her face as they near her table.

After a few horrifying seconds they thankfully turn the opposite direction as Katherine points out a secluded corner in the back.

"Just because you can't see them, doesn't mean they can't see you."

Elena jumps in her seat and drops the text book, causing Disgruntled Girl aka her new mortal enemy to shoot her a filthy look from a few seats down.

She can recognize that smooth, impossibly self-assured voice anywhere.

How the hell was she going to study _now_?

She finally brings herself to look up and face a very amused Damon, the cocky bastard practically on the verge of bursting into fits of laughter.

"What makes you think I'm hiding?" Elena asks defensively as she hastily fixes her books and tries her best to make it look like she's been studying for hours as opposed to avoiding ex-boyfriends and girl-crushes.

"Gee I have _no_ clue, Elena. Might've been that big ass text book you had as camouflage that gave you away," Damon replies sardonically.

"I was _reading_."

"It was upside down."

"I'm just trying to study here," Elena says ignoring his comment and hoping against hope that he would just leave her alone to wallow in peace.

"Maybe you need a study buddy!"

"I really don't think that's –"

But Damon is already sitting in the seat across from her, taking off his leather jacket in the process. She tries not to notice how his black t-shirt stretches over his muscles, flashbacks of how his toned body looked sans the shirt flooding through her brain. She closes her eyes in frustration.

_Down girl! _

"_Please_ take a seat," she says dryly.

He leans forward on the table, chin resting in his hands and with a lopsided grin so infectious that she can't help but laugh.

"So _you_ have the hots for Katherine?" he assesses bluntly, giving more of a statement than a question.

Elena's smile slips right off and suddenly feels all of the blood drain from her face.

"What the _hell_ are you talking about?" she asks through gritted teeth.

"Oh don't play coy, Elena. Your pretty doe eyes say it all. And don't tell me you haven't imagined getting freaky with Kat because _boy_ is she the freakiest!" He replies; eyes drifting off dreamily as if he were remembering a fond memory.

"How did you even find out?" Elena asks and tries to avoid all eye-contact. She did not need to be having this conversation, especially with _Damon_ of all people!

"Just say I'm a pretty observant guy, _plus_ what other possible reason would it be for not wanting to tell her about the wild sex marathon with yours truly?"

"Maybe it hasn't occurred to you that someone's actually ashamed that they slept with you. And no for God sakes, _it__ was __not __a__ sex __marathon!_" she hisses, suddenly aware of the daggers Disgruntled Girl and several others were sending their way, overhearing their obscene conversation no doubt.

"Now you're just lying to yourself, Elena. Tsk tsk." he says while shaking his head, completely unperturbed by her insult.

"Yes, fine. I have feelings for Katherine. What's it to you?"

"No need to get all pouty, just trying to give some friendly advice! Katherine and I _do _have a history you know… albeit a purely sexual one," he offers, waggling his eyebrows.

"Ugh gross!" Elena scoffs.

"Well … okay, maybe there was a bit more to it. From my side at least…" he admits reluctantly, breaking away from her gaze. He starts to fidget with the large ring on his left hand.

His sudden, honest confession takes her by her surprise. Maybe he isn't such a pig after all…

"How did you two….?" she trails off, curiosity getting the better of her.

He takes a beat and looks back up, locking his eyes with hers as if contemplating on whether he should even tell her.

She nearly gives up on him continuing the conversation, half expecting him to bolt right out of the library (because God forbid he isn't acting like a complete oversexed asshat for once) but he surprises her once more by snapping her out of her trance with the sound of his voice.

"We were each other's firsts, just because we knew each other since forever. You know, the kind of BFF nerd wish fulfilment American Pie style, except I was totally popular of course."

"Of course," Elena agrees, because who was she kidding? With that face and that body, he couldn't play a nerd to save his life.

"And once we started, we couldn't stop. But she insisted on keeping it casual, so we were never exclusive…and I couldn't take it, seeing her hook up with guy after guy then running back to me. It _really _sucked… but at the end of the day…you know… I was _stupidly_ in love with her," he explains and Elena can't help but feel for him.

She was in a slightly similar situation after all, with the same girl no less.

Minus, you know… the sex part.

"I'm sorry, that must have been hard," she finds herself saying in an attempt to comfort him. She surprises herself even more by reaching out to place her hand over his, the first real contact they've had since their "adult sleepover". She feels him stiffen at her touch.

He stares at her for a moment, mouth slightly agape, an unguarded expression that disappears in a flash.

"It doesn't really matter, who could complain when they're having great sex in high school? Anyway, my point _is_ I need you to know that Katherine isn't one for monogamy," He replies, brushing off her concern. She lets go of his hand.

"Maybe I'm not either," she challenges boldly and she doesn't know why she feels so annoyed all of a sudden.

"Somehow I doubt that," he says, the corner of his lips quirking upwards.

"How do you know? You don't even know me!"

"I know you well enough that you'll scream like a banshee if I nibble on your – "

"DO NOT FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" Elena exclaims, her eyes bugging out.

"You should really lower your voice, _some_ people are trying to study," Damon stage whispers.

"I am _not_ afraid to kick you in the mangina, pretty boy!" she warns scathingly, causing him to laugh heartily.

He puts his hands up in surrender as she continues to glare at him.

"Okay I'll stop, I apologize. Seriously though, have you ever been with a girl before?" he asks, genuinely curious.

"Well…I had to kiss Caroline once at a truth or dare back in high school," Elena admits, feeling completely and utterly inexperienced.

"Any tongue?"

"_No_…ugh you're such a pig!" she spits back, not so lightly hitting the top of his head with her text book. She giggles as he winces in pain.

"Ouch, jeez just asking! So I'm curious, out of all the girls and boys out there, what makes Katherine so special?"

"I don't know, alright? I just feel drawn to her somehow, I mean she's beautiful but there's something more. It really only started the time I saw her at the Mystic Bean, reading Jack London – "

"Wait…Jack _London_? She wasn't reading Call of the Wild, was she?" he cuts her off mid-sentence, eyebrows furrowed.

"Um yeah she was…why?" she asks, perplexed by his sudden interruption.

"It's just that…it was the book I gave her years ago. One of my failed attempts at wooing her but… I guess it takes an idiot to try and woo a woman like that with literature."

"Not _that_ much of an idiot," Elena finds herself saying, his eyes locking with hers and she starts to feel warm all of a sudden. Did someone turn the AC in the library off?

"I didn't even think that she'd ever read it…I was expecting her to use it as door-stop or something. It _was_ one of my favourite books after all… still is I guess," he replies and starts to fidget with his ring again, a nervous habit that she couldn't help but find endearing.

"It's one of my favourites too," she says quietly.

"Huh."

She starts to flick through her text books absent-mindedly, just to keep her own hands busy.

"Guess I should go, leave you to your actual studying…"

"Oh yeah, that's probably a good idea…you're a bad influence on me anyways," she says in an attempt to erase the sudden awkwardness in the air.

"You're a lot smarter than I thought, Elena," he states, smirk back in place as if it never left. He stands up and grabs his jacket.

"Whatever. See you around, Damon," she says, shaking her head.

"See you bright and early tomorrow morning for my espresso!"

"Sure! I won't forget to spit in it!" she calls out after him.

A few seconds after he leaves, she gets a notification on her laptop from Facebook.

_Damon Salvatore wrote on your wall._

Oh God, does she dare read it?

_Don't worry honey; spitting in my coffee won't be the first time that I'll taste you ;)_

That son of a bitch!

_Caroline likes this._


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys! How's the hell-atus treating everyone? LOL. The last few episodes have been SO good for DE. I don't think I've loved them as much as I do now and that's saying a lot. Thank you so much for the reviews! A special thanks to Michelle (LoveEpicLove) for recommending my fic to her Twitter followers! She's the biggest sweetheart 3 **

**Okay so I'm warning you guys again, this is probably the most femslash heavy chapter so if you don't like it I apologize. There's also a tad bit of male slash. Really sorry if it's a squick factor for you guys! **

**Anyways, enjoy and please review! :D **

"You know you're starting to sound a whole lot like Ric…" says Isobel amusedly to Elena a week later.

"So your husband needs to file a restraining order against Damon Salvatore too?" Elena asks in exasperation as she rummages through the milk crates in the fridge for the elusive _skim_. It's only 10:00am and they've already run out!

When did everyone suddenly become so health conscious that they couldn't have one freaking cup of coffee with perfectly normal 100% dairy milk?

Why was the world _against_ her?

"I half expect him to elope with Damon one day, their bromance is _that _sickening. Thank God I'm still super hot and the idiot can't live without me!" Isobel answers, flipping her long raven locks for dramatic effect.

Elena would have laughed if she wasn't too busy mentally cursing Damon for being so popular. How could everyone love such an irritating (albeit very attractive) ass?

"Are you _serious_? They're friends too? Who _doesn__'__t_ Damon know?" Elena asks incredulously.

"Ric taught his Ancient Philosophy class a few semesters ago and they've been joined at the hip ever since," Isobel says, shrugging.

"Is that even normal?" Elena asks and finally, _finally_ spots the sacred bottle of milk, the hallelujah chorus ringing in her ears. She gets up from her spot triumphantly and starts working on two orders of _skim_ caramel latte.

"Going on weekend benders with students instead of grading their papers makes him feel hip and young."

"Only Professor Saltzman can pull a mildly creepy stunt like that off…well him and Ted Mosby."

Elena hands the two skim caramel lattes to a couple freshmen, Amy and Amber Bradley (no relation what so _ever_…yeah she thought it was freaky too).

"So Jeremy's not working today?" Amy asks disappointedly.

Elena resists the urge to roll her eyes. These girls are so transparent.

"It's his day off," she answers stiffly.

Elena sighs in annoyance as they leave, not even thanking her for the coffee.

Fine! _Don__'__t_ appreciate the extra work that she went through to ensure that they didn't get any percentage of fat in their precious beverages!

"Alaric's just lucky that I love him so much. Did you know that he's also the rhythm guitarist in Damon's god awful band?" Isobel continues, as she wipes down the counter simultaneously.

"Oh _god_, it can't possibly be the same band as my brother's?" Elena groans, pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger.

"You better believe it! Now excuse me for a moment because this Morrissey record is depressing as hell," Isobel adds and bustles off to the CD player, opting for cheerier 90's alt-pop courtesy of Third Eye Blind.

Suddenly Elena catches a flurry of blonde from the corner of her eye, something that is never, _ever_ a good sign.

"Caroline sweetie, it's your day off! You're supposed to be out there enjoying the sunshine and wreaking havoc somewhere that's _not_ my coffeehouse!" Isobel calls out to the blonde practically skipping towards the counter.

"Yes…and you should also be _studying_," Elena chastises, making Caroline narrow her eyes at her in fake-annoyance.

"Well I'm offended! I consider the Mystic Bean my home away from home!"

"We live two blocks away, Caroline."

"_So_ not the point."

"Well now that Caroline's here to cover for me –"

"Hey!" Caroline whines.

"- I'm going to go down to the store to grab some more…milk…yes, milk! Be back soon my darling minions!" Isobel finishes sweetly and pats Caroline's blonde head on her way out the door.

"Later, Isobel!" Elena calls out, sniggering. She then turns to face Caroline whom is now literally bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Just spill it, whatever has you wearing your 'I love butterflies' face!" Elena demands and folds her arms across her chest.

"Well if you _must_ ask, the reason I'm here is to personally invite you to the Salvatore's party this Friday night and _before __you __roll __those __big __bambi__ eyes _just hear me out!" Caroline exclaims, waggling her finger at the brunette's face accusingly.

"I've already declined all of Damon's stupid party invites numerous times! Last week he posted an invite on Facebook to a freaking _underwear_ party at the Bloodlines –"

"Which turned out to be really fun and a lot classier than you would think!"

"Yeah I bet it _was_, I just can't believe you ditched our Season 1 Lost marathon for that," Elena pouts, still bitter about being left to drool over Boone Carlyle all on her lonesome.

"Rebekah misses you too! We would have been the hottest girls there if you came! Like My Scene Barbies!"

"I'll pretend that you didn't just say that."

"Well _anyway_, you can make it up to me by coming this time!"

"Why would this time be any different?" Elena asks sceptically.

"This time _Katherine__'__s_ going to be there!" Caroline announces smugly, using her lifetime's worth of knowledge on ways to push Elena Gilbert's buttons.

"Well…okay. I guess I _might_ consider it…" Elena answers semi-reluctantly. This very well could be the perfect opportunity to make her move…

"That's all a girl can ask for."

* * *

><p>The week passes by a lot quicker than Elena expects. Soon enough she's done with her Friday afternoon classes and finds herself getting dragged by Caroline to their apartment.<p>

"Ooh la-la, Elena Gilbert!" Caroline squeals an hour later, beaming up at the brunette twirling in front of her in their tiny living room. The kind of living room consisting of one sofa and one, shitty non flat-screen television set that Caroline deems as _vintage_.

Elena looks down at her a skin-tight, black dress (with a front zip going all the way down from the bust to the bottom) sceptically.

"Do you think it's too much?" Elena asks while tugging at the bottom of her dress to as far as it can go, which was really… only a quarter down her thighs. She sighs in defeat.

"No _way_! It's perfect. The girls and boys will eat you up!" her best friend reassures her excitedly, making Elena laugh.

"You're looking pretty smokin' yourself, Caroline Forbes!" Elena answers back to the blonde wearing a strapless baby doll number.

"Oh I know _that,_ silly! Now come on, off to the Salvatore's we go!"

* * *

><p>The closer they get to the door of the Salvatore Boarding House, the more anxious Elena gets. Stepping foot into the place where she <em>apparently<em> had crazy animal sex (his wording, not hers) with Damon Salvatore for the first time _since_ that night was suddenly turning out to be the worst idea on the entire planet. The thumping music and crowds of people surrounding the house was doing little to placate her.

Why did Caroline have to rope her into this? Did the sneaky little blonde get a kick out of constantly seeing her best friend freak out in public?

And why the hell did she decide on wearing such high, hooker heels?

Not to mention, Katherine was going to be there…

God, she needed a drink.

A very strong drink.

"You okay, Elena?" Caroline asks, turning to her in concern.

But before Elena can open her mouth to answer, the front door bursts open, revealing another perky little blonde in the form of Rebekah Smith.

Elena and Caroline have been friends with Rebekah ever since they started at Duke. She was a little wilder and could party a little harder but she manages to pull it all off with such style and grace, not to mention with a sophisticated British accent.

"Elena, you came! Caroline!" Rebekah exclaims excitedly and envelopes Elena in a hug that nearly knocks her flat.

"Hey!" says Caroline.

"Bex! Oxygen!" Elena splutters out but returns the hug all the same.

"I need to talk to you, come on!" Rebekah says; her voice suddenly urgent as she grabs a hold of Elena's and Caroline's hands and expertly manoeuvres through the throng of party-goers to a more secluded area by the fireplace.

She then takes a breath and turns to face them.

"Just promise me that you won't bite my head off, Elena…well, actually I'd be okay if you did since I'm basically the worst friend in the world."

"What the hell are you talking about, Bex?" Elena asks, completely perplexed.

Rebekah bites her lip, her eyebrows furrowing.

"I broke the girl-code."

Caroline gasps loudly while Elena feels as confused as ever.

"What? What 'girl-code'? Are you high right now? Let me guess, Jeremy gave you a discount?"

"No! _The_ girl-code. I_… __nearly __hooked__ up __with __Damon__ Salvatore __last __Saturday_!" Rebekah confesses in a hushed tone, all too quickly.

Elena feels her stomach drop like she just missed a step down a staircase.

"What the hell, Bex?" Caroline hisses angrily.

"We didn't even go that far, I swear! It was at the Bloodlines underwear party, _you_ left me alone, Caroline, for god knows what reason then Damon came over and there were marshmallows involved –"

"_Okay_! It's totally fine, Bex. I have no claim on him; he's not mine so you can eat as many of his marshmallows as you want!" Elena cuts her off hastily not wanting to hear any more details. She has no idea why she's feeling so agitated all of a sudden.

Damon can sleep with as many girls as he wanted for all she cares. _She_ was the one rejecting all of his advances after sleeping with him. Her one-night stand with him was and forever will be a mistake.

Right?

"I just feel awful, Elena. I'm _so_ sorry," Rebekah says miserably.

"You don't have to be sorry for something like that. It's pretty common knowledge that Damon's the campus man-whore. We're just friends, if even that…"

Caroline clears her throat loudly.

"Come on, Bex. I think I need to give you another overview of the girl-code and _you_ need to get our best friend in the world here some alcohol in her system!" Caroline says bossily, placing her hands on Rebekah's shoulders and steering her out of the room.

"Man-whore at 12 o'clock!" she adds to Elena before they leave and sure enough, Damon Salvatore was making a bee-line towards her, looking as dashing as ever in a button down dark blue shirt with a glass of bourbon in hand.

She mentally kicks herself for not thinking of an exit strategy beforehand.

"You finally made it! Did my powers of persuasion finally work?" he says and takes a swig of his drink.

"If it's in the form of Caroline Forbes then yes," she quips, resisting the urge to step back as he leans in closer until there's barely any space between them. She doesn't want to give him the satisfaction of thinking he has any effect on her, his close-talker tendencies be damned!

"Remember this rug?" he says in a low voice and his piercing eyes leave hers to glance down at the floor beneath them.

She follows his gaze and takes in the intricate design of the rug, familiar shapes, hands gripping shoulders and fevered kisses flood through her mind and she suddenly finds it difficult to breathe.

"I've still got the rug burns," he whispers in her ear, chuckling lightly.

She takes a gulp as he leans back to let his eyes wander over her entire body and she's never felt so naked in her life.

"I really like this dress by the way. But _this_ is especially convenient…" he trails off; catching the zipper in between his fingers. She stares at his hand fiddling with the piece of metal, occasionally brushing against her skin and she finds herself arching into his touch.

He tugs at it slowly from in between the swell of her breasts until she finally has the sense to slap his hand away before he goes any further.

"Jerk!" she snaps and quickly zips herself back up, feeling herself flush from her neck down.

How can she be so _stupid_?

"Sorry, I was getting some hot flashbacks," he says unapologetically, the corner of his lips quirking upwards.

"You're such an ass. Less than a week ago you had Rebekah eating your marshmallows so don't expect me-"

"Oh you heard about that did you? Too bad I found out that she was Elijah's niece, or else we would have had more fun… although not as much fun as you and I had, of course."

"Ugh, are you serious? Well, at least you have your limits. It would be _such_ a shame if Professor Smith kicked you out of his class for screwing his niece," Elena adds and juts her lip out into a pout.

"I think my spot in his class is _pretty_ secure."

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

She looks at him bemusedly, brows furrowing at his cryptic answer.

"So do you want to find Katherine or not? You didn't get all dressed up for little old me, did you?" he asks playfully.

_A __little __of __both_, a small, insignificant voice says in her head.

"Where is she then?" she asks.

"Last time I saw she was grinding against another pretty little thing in the foyer -"

Suddenly Damon's phone goes off; he looks down at his screen with a smirk.

"Guess that's my queue to leave. Enjoy the party, _Elena_," he says, making her name sound like the dirtiest word imaginable.

Luckily Caroline and Rebekah arrive shortly after with several drinks in hand. Elena takes whatever she can reach.

She quickly downs a drink and welcomes the burning, bittersweet liquid hitting the back of her throat.

"Whoa easy there, tiger!" Caroline hiccups while Rebekah giggles like a maniac.

"I'm just getting started, ladies!"

* * *

><p>A few more drinks later and Elena feels like she has finally gathered enough liquid courage to begin her search for one, Miss Katherine Pierce.<p>

Somewhere a long the way, Caroline disappears (again) and if it were up to Sober Elena then she would have wanted to finally learn the truth behind her best friend's constant disappearing act. This was not the case, however.

"Elena, I'm just going to go and say hi to Tyler and Jeremy, you don't mind do you?" Rebekah asks, giving a little wave to the two goofballs engaged in a heated game of beer pong.

"Of course not, you kids have fun now!" Elena answers encouragingly, as she scans the crowd for any sign of voluminous brown tresses.

Soon enough she zeroes in on Katherine amongst the mass of bodies swaying to the beat of the music.

Elena's breath hitches at the sight of her.

The first thing that catches her eye is the way that Katherine's long shapely legs are clad in fishnet stockings, leading up to possibly the shortest shorts that she's ever seen. The next is the thin, black blazer that plunges down to her stomach, a blazer that covers…well, _nothing_ which gives Elena a full view of her glorious cleavage.

This was now or never.

Elena flits through the crowd with ease and boldly places her hands on Katherine's hips from behind. Katherine welcomes the contact and reaches back to wrap her hand around Elena's neck.

"Mmm," she purrs as Elena runs her hands up and down her sides.

"Turn around," Elena says in her ear and Katherine complies, her eyes widening in surprise at the sight of her.

"Oh my god, Elena! You look _so_ hot!" she exclaims and flings herself onto Elena in a hug.

"You look pretty gorgeous yourself, Kat."

"Aw you're always a sweetheart. Come on, I'm over dancing. Let's do something fun!" she says abruptly, taking Elena's hand and leading her out of the dance floor.

"Where's Matt by the way?" Elena asks, suddenly wary of the situation.

Could she _really_ handle this?

This was it. This was _the _moment. She's wanted this for months. Nothing was holding her back now.

Right?

She decides to chalk all of her second guessing up to nerves…silly, silly nerves.

"Probably studying, I don't know. He's only fun when he's stoned most of the time!" Katherine answers offhandedly as they reach the bottom of an extravagant staircase.

Katherine pulls Elena up the flight of stairs before she can protest and Elena nearly stumbles in the process, her heels and recent consumption of alcohol working wonders on her balance.

"Where are we going?" Elena asks as they walk through several dark-lit corridors.

"It's a surprise!" Katherine says, giggling excitedly. They finally stop at a large, polished wooden door, a door that triggers Elena's memory.

"Isn't this Damon's room?" Elena says with a hint of warning in her voice. She was starting to get a tad irritated by Katherine's little game.

_Now or never. _

"Yes, but he won't mind. He's always had a soft spot for me."

Elena takes a deep breath and catches Katherine's wrist before she reaches the door knob.

Katherine looks up at Elena; a playful smirk gracing her lips.

"Look Katherine, I _like_ you," Elena confesses and steps closer until their chests brush up against each other.

"I like you too," Katherine says back.

"No…I mean…" Elena trails off, loosening her grip on Katherine's wrist.

"_Oh_."

Katherine gives her an exaggerated wink and Elena suddenly has no clue if she's actually taking it seriously. This girl is _impossible_!

She finally gets her answer as she feels soft, full lips press against her own, the taste of alcohol and something indescribable on her tongue.

Elena responds with full force, pressing her small frame against the door, hands slipping underneath her blazer. She reaches Katherine's supple breasts and squeezes them, making her moan into her mouth.

"We should get inside before we get caught out here," Elena sighs as Katherine's mouth travels further down her neck until she's tugging at the pesky zipper on Elena's dress with her teeth.

"Good idea," Katherine says, reaching behind her to turn the door knob.

They stumble inside and are suddenly greeted with the most peculiar sight.

"OH MY GOD!"

There was Damon in all of his naked glory along with another, surprisingly masculine body.

"Professor _Smith_?"


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the great reviews. I really appreciate it. Hopefully I'll be able to wrap this fic up soon before I go back to Uni at the end of February. I'd also like to note that the previous chapter was the slashiest of them all so I don't want any of you to fret. There's not as much DE interaction in this chapter as I hoped there would be, it's also a lot shorter than most. I still hope that you enjoy the chapter and if you do or you don't let me know anyway lol. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Elena does not want to get up from bed. Getting up from bed would mean facing the nightmarish reality fit for a College Humor YouTube sketch of the night before.<p>

No, this time she can't handle it. Not until five more minutes, at least.

Maybe if she keeps her eyes closed like she used to when she was younger, she can imagine the whole world disappearing before her.

Ugh, too late.

Her heavy lidded eyes accidentally drift over to her once sexy black dress, now hanging limply on her desk chair.

She gives said sexy dress a moment of silence. RIP convenient zippers.

You see, she can never wear such a dress again, what with all the vomit splattered on the front.

Yes. That's right. _Vomit_.

Not hers, obviously. Elena Gilbert has class, thank you very much.

The problem with being intoxicated is the inability to react quickly. The slower reflexes hindering you from dodging all of the dangerous things such as drunken girls that have had too much weed and tequila, thus resulting in having the first hand experience of Katherine Pierce throwing up all over her, shortly after their regrettable make out session.

To top it all off, she had to witness Damon _fucking_ Salvatore having sex with another man whom just _had _to be their Modernist Lit professor, of all people!

Not only does she have to worry about every girl on campus vying for his attention but all of the god damn men too? Give her a freaking break!

You know…not that she particularly cares about who he fucks (no of course not) but could he at least have the decency to keep it in his pants for one measly second? _Asshat._

Why the hell did all of her party going shenanigans always turn out to be such a disaster of epic proportions?

Elena lets out a groan of frustration, gingerly lifting the tangle of bed sheets off of her body.

She decides to get up and check if Caroline had managed to get home that night, God knows that she could do with hearing about someone else's late night indiscretions right now.

She finds their tiny living room empty yet spots an unfamiliar garment left haphazardly on the corner of the couch. Interesting.

On closer inspection, she finds that the article of clothing is none other than a pair of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle boxer shorts.

What in the _hell_?

"Elena, you're up!" says Caroline's ever so bubbly voice from across the room.

Elena holds up the boxer shorts with raised eye-brows in response. Caroline's smile slips off of her face, her dark blue eyes widening in shock.

"When did we start hosting sleepovers for 12 yr old boys?" Elena asks, fighting to keep a straight face.

"Ew no, Elena! I can explain!"

"I know cougars are the new thing but I really don't think this is legal, Care."

"Oh my god! Those boxers belong to a grown man, okay!"

Elena laughs heartily as she throws the infantile boxer shorts in Caroline's direction, making the blonde shriek in disgust.

"When were you going to tell me that all of your disappearing acts were really because you wanted to trade Pokémon cards in the back alley?"

"Ha-_ha_, very funny. I'm glad I kicked him out of bed before you woke up, the poor guy would probably want to die in a hole if he actually met you," Caroline answers back scathingly.

"Ouch! This is what you get for not introducing me! You seem to like the guy enough to keep seeing him so he couldn't be _that_ embarrassing…besides his awful taste in underwear, of course."

Caroline makes a face at her.

"So you're still not going to tell me? You can't hide him forever, you know. We _do_ live in the same apartment, go to the same college, work at the same place…" Elena prods, grinning widely and enjoying the ease of making Caroline Forbes squirm. If only she were drunk…Caroline was _always_ a bad liar when drunk…

"If you drop it, I won't ask about your weird little love triangle/ménage trios with Katherine and Damon," Caroline answers slyly.

"Oh _please_, you can't help yourself, Caroline. But unlike _you_ I'm a good friend and will share all of the details just because you asked." Elena says slowly as if she were talking to a toddler.

"_Eh_ you're right. Who am I kidding? I never thought I'd say this but my love life is a lot more vanilla than yours. Spill it, you sex goddess!"

"Don't be too sure about that…just…please promise not to laugh, okay?" Elena says in warning.

"Okay…" Caroline replies bemusedly.

"So I didn't really have any wild 'non vanilla' sex last night…Katherine was kind of too drunk and too stoned to… _you know_…we did make out for a bit but she kind of killed the mood when… she _vomited_ on me."

Caroline lets out a squeal off laughter, grabbing a hold of the top edge of the couch to stable herself.

"_Caroline_! She ruined my favourite dress!" Elena whines, stomping her foot.

"I'm sorry…that…that _bitch_!" the blonde says in between a fit of giggles as she wipes the tears from her eyes.

"That's not all! _Before_ Katherine threw up on me we actually caught Damon completely naked, having sex!"

"Oh my god, naked sex? Who could he possibly have naked sex with?" Caroline gasps dramatically, still shaking with laughter.

"Firstly I hate you; secondly I don't think you could ever guess who."

"Try me."

Elena takes a long pause, fixing Caroline with a serious stare for dramatic effect.

"Professor Smith."

"You're _kidding?_" Caroline says shrilly, gaping in shock.

"I wish I was," Elena answers in deadpan.

"Whew…I mean…_Damon and Professor Smith_! Not going to lie, that kind of got me hot for a second," Caroline admits, giving Elena a wink.

"Jeez! _Really_, Caroline?" the brunette asks, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"Come on! Two hot dudes together! You've never thought of it?"

"Well…okay. Aesthetically it was nice but niceness does not make the experience any less traumatizing!"

"Elena, I think that you're not bothered by the fact that it's a guy that you caught him with but because you actually caught him with someone else," Caroline concludes thoughtfully.

"You know what? I liked it better when we were talking about turtle boy," Elena snaps.

"You're really on fire today, Elena."

* * *

><p>Elena's first encounter with Katherine since the party takes place on a quiet Sunday afternoon at the Mystic Bean.<p>

It happens on an afternoon so quiet that Elena contemplates on closing the coffeehouse an hour earlier. That is, until the other brunette walks through the door.

"Elena! Jeez it's like a ghost town in here. How are you?" Katherine greets as she sashays her way towards the counter.

"I'm just peachy, Kat, how about you?" Elena answers back, mustering as much cheerfulness in her voice as possible. A surprisingly difficult task.

Elena finds herself becoming instantly irritated in Katherine's presence, her appearance becoming less and less attractive by the second.

So she's playing the "I can't remember" card now is she?

Can't even apologize for vomiting on a fellow peer? A peer that she had led on for the entire night and shoved her tongue down their throat just for kicks?

"I'm great! Just the usual soy Chai latte for me, thanks!"

Elena gives her a tight-lipped smile and proceeds to work on the crappiest cup of coffee that she would ever make in her life.

"So it was a pretty crazy party at the Salvatore house the other night…" Elena trails off nonchalantly as she puts far too much water in the latte than milk. Full-cream milk that is, you know… none of that soy BS.

That's right, Elena's a bad ass.

"Yeah it was incredible! I mean…wait… _you_ were there?" Katherine asks in a surprisingly convincing tone.

Wow so the bitch is _really_ going there? The nerve!

"I was...as a matter of fact I think I saw you…"

Katherine's eyebrows furrow which means that she's obviously putting on her thinking face.

Ugh. Here we go…

"You know, the whole night is actually a blur…a really _huge_ blur. I was taking some _things_…well anyway I don't even remember getting there, let alone who I talked to. Who knows what I got up to, right?" Katherine explains, giggling like a school girl.

"So you really don't remember anything from last night? Nothing at all?" Elena asks in disbelief.

"Should I have? This happens _all_ the time, hon. I just remember Damon being really pissy when he found me crashing on his couch in the morning. So unlike him by the way!"

"Wow. That must suck," Elena replies blankly as she hands the crappy cup of coffee to Katherine.

"Not really. Like I said, it's the same old, same old for me. Anyway I gotta go, Matt wants to see some lame ass movie tonight, lots of guns and probably no sex. Thanks for the coffee, babe!" Katherine bids and walks out of the shop, leaving a completely dumbfounded Elena in her wake.

So Katherine's _not_ a heartless bitch.

She's just a shallow dumb bitch.

Damon was totally right.

Fuck.

* * *

><p>After Elena closes up the Mystic Bean, she decides to take the scenic route back to her apartment, crossing the beautiful, grassy courtyard in the middle of campus to collect her thoughts.<p>

In a way, she actually feels good finally realizing that her crush on Katherine Pierce was just that…a crush.

Who was she really kidding, anyway?

They would have never worked out just as Caroline said. It was probably best that she knew now.

The funny thing is that the memory of making out with Katherine for one night is a lot more painful than the one of having sex with Damon. How could she regret one 'incident' over the other?

Having sex was surely a lot worse, right?

Suddenly she feels her foot land on something soft, hears a manly groan of pain and loses her balance, landing face flat on the…_person_.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

Elena warily opens her eyes, finding herself being greeted with a very familiar pair of baby blues.

"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise?"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks again for the awesome reviews! You guys are the best! I was supposed to update this a few days ago but after 3x14 I think everyone was a little shaken. I actually loved the angst and changing up the dynamics between them. 3x15 was also good for us, I'd like to think and it was clear that Elena was in major denial. She practically ran around town telling everyone about Damon's sexual shenanigans LOL. The episode was great for Damon too and overall I'm pretty happy with how the season is going.**

**Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think!**

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><p>As much as her head is screaming for her to run for the hills and to get the hell out of this very inappropriate and extremely compromising position, her body decides to freeze up, legs locking onto either side of his hips in a straddle.<p>

The only coherent thought running through her mind right now is "_Why oh why did I wear my denim mini-skirt today?_"

He's already smirking, thoroughly enjoying his good fortune and ticking her off even more.

She realizes that she has fistfuls of his dark grey shirt in a vice like grip, the quality of the fabric even _feels_ designer and she has the sudden urge to rip it to bits -

_Focus_, Gilbert!

"What the hell are you doing on the ground?" she asks in frustration, still unable to move for some ungodly reason.

"What the hell are _you_ doing on the ground?" he mimics, one very expressive eyebrow arching.

"Well I wouldn't be _on_ the ground if you weren't in the way being a gigantic safety hazard. I could have broken my neck, you know."

"It's a good thing you had me to break your fall then," he says, slowly bringing one hand up to slide along the exposed skin of her hip (her skin starts to burn at his touch), as if daring her to pull away.

She doesn't.

Instead she notices just how close their faces are, her eyes travelling down from his gaze to the curve of his full bottom lip. His pink tongue darts out, swiping across the bottom and she finds herself parting her own lips in response.

She feels the hand on her hip slipping under her shirt, stopping at the clasp of her bra and this is suddenly feeling all too familiar. Before she knows it she's rolling her hips just as she did on _that_ night, against his jean clad bulge, her thin cotton panties already wet.

She's breathing hard now as he gives a satisfied moan, his hands fiddling with the clasp and just as they start to lean in, their lips barely brushing, reality finally hits her.

Elena Gilbert is in _public_, getting openly groped by Damon Salvatore whom she last saw screwing her _male _Professor less than 48 hours ago.

What the hell is wrong with her?

She quickly scrambles off of him, putting as much space between them as possible.

He remains in the same spot practically shaking with laughter, the sound echoing all around the courtyard.

She has the sudden urge to knee him in the crotch.

"You are – _way_ – too- much fun, Elena," he says, almost literally rolling on the ground laughing.

"And _you _are an ass!"

"Hey I was just minding my own business, taking a study break and the next thing I know it, a totally hot girl falls on top of me! What's a guy to do?" he says in defence, casually resting his hands behind the back of his head, his cerulean round orbs looking up at her in faux innocence.

Elena rolls her eyes but takes a seat beside him anyway, folding her legs up against her chest.

"So what are you studying for?"

"As a matter of fact, it's for our Mod Lit exam next week," he answers quietly, breaking her gaze.

"I'm surprised you're even bothering to study for that," Elena says before she can stop herself. She didn't mean for it to come out so…_snarky_.

Why does she have to keep reminding herself that she has no claim on him?

"I like to earn my grades outside of the bedroom, thank you very much." he snarks right back, his eyes travelling up to meet hers.

"Look, Damon, seeing the two of you just shocked me, that's all. Then again, I shouldn't really be shocked with anything you do now, should I?"

"I don't see why you're so miffed seeing some good old Queer as Folk action. I assume that you got what you wanted that night, anyway,"

Elena turns away and picks at the grass beside her.

"Not exactly," she answers stiffly.

Damon sits up and shuffles closer to her, their arms brushing up against each other.

"Oh? Well I hate to say I told you so but…" he trails off as she continues to pull at the blades of grass absent-mindedly.

"Save it, Damon."

He then surprises her by lifting her chin with his thumb and forefinger to face him, his expression warm and comforting.

"I _am_ sorry, Elena. I knew how much you liked her. But at the end of the day Katherine is an idiot. She…well…she sucks," he says simply and she can't help but break into a smile.

"Yeah, you could have told me that _before_ she threw up all over me," she adds making him bark out a laugh.

"I mean I'm all for kinks but that's a total mood killer."

She finds herself laughing along with him as they settle back down on the grass beside each other.

They stay that way for a while, watching the sunset and the sky fading out into darkness.

"So what now? I never really pegged you for a star-gazer," she comments, hands folded onto her stomach.

"There's a lot that you don't know about me," he says, giving her a sidelong glance.

She scoffs.

"Yeah, like the fact that you sleep with male Professors as an extra curricular activity."

"Says the girl that was hell-bent on sleeping with her doppelganger. Not weird at all!" he counters.

"We don't look _that_ alike!" she whines, hitting his chest with the back of her hand.

"You're right. You're a lot more beautiful if it wasn't already obvious," he says matter-of-factly as if it weren't a compliment at all.

She feels her heart flutter all the same and finds herself uttering a wary "thank you" in response.

What was happening?

Suddenly she hears a buzzing sound coming from Damon's pocket. She watches him pull out his phone which looks uncannily like hers, right down to the Angry Birds cover…

"Is that my _phone_? What the hell, Damon? How did you get it?"

"You were kind of distracted by all the dry humping earlier to notice…"

"Damn it Damon, give it here!" she yells shrilly, trying her hardest to snatch it from him as he raises his arm away from her grasp.

"Ooh someone has a text: _Mrs Carlyle, where the hell are you? Boone is waiting!"_ Damon reads out loud in a high-pitched girly voice.

Elena winces, her cheeks colouring in embarrassment.

"Wait…as in Boone Carlyle? That guy from Lost?" he asks in amusement and his lopsided grin shouldn't be so endearing.

"Yes! Okay, Caroline and I are having a Lost marathon and I kind of have a bit of a crush on him," she admits through gritted teeth.

"A bit? Caroline here suggests that you wish to be betrothed to this lucky man!"

"Ugh just quit it, Damon!" she pleads, whacking her hands against his raised arm in vain.

"What is it about him? I bet it's those eyes…they're just oh so blue!" he says while fluttering his own and it doesn't help that his eyes actually do shine in the moonlight.

Damn him.

"You know, you have pretty good taste, Elena. I wouldn't mind –"

"Don't you even entertain that thought!" she groans, giving up the fight and resting her arms down her sides.

"- climbing up _his_ coconut tree, if you know what I mean," he finishes.

"Gross!"

He places the phone back in her hand, his fingers lingering on hers for a moment longer.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for the crazy long wait. Uni and work has been pretty hectic but I've got a little bit of free time right now so I'm finally able to update. This one is a little longer than usual so I hope you like it. Thank you so much for the amazing reviews, please keep them coming, if you can haha! :) **

**I was bored so I made an art for this fic as well, the link is in my profile xD**

**Hope the hiatus is treating you guys well, I know _I_ need a bit of a breather from the show so it's been nice for me lol. **

**Anyway, enjoy!**

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><p>"Come on, Elena. We walked all this way to the lecture theatre, the least we could do is to actually go inside," Caroline pleads to her extremely stubborn, non-budging best friend.<p>

Elena's dramatics carry on into a crowded hallway, with students continually bumping into the quarrelling pair as they rush to their own classes.

"How is this any different to you skipping class last week?" the brunette retorts, arms folded.

"Oh my god, for the last time, how can you expect me to go out in public when my curling iron is missing? Sometimes I think that you're super insensitive on purpose, Elena."

Elena gives out an indignant huff, "Unbelievable!" she exclaims.

Caroline was such a hypocrite at times, and it was taking all of Elena's effort not to strangle the blonde or better yet, make sure that Caroline would never see her precious curling iron ever again. That would teach her to never meddle with Elena's way of dealing with men, which was…not dealing with them at all. So what if Elena wanted to avoid –

"Don't think I don't know who you're avoiding, by the way," Caroline says, as if she had just read Elena's mind, "But the Elena that I know is a go-getter that doesn't need to avoid anyone! So I'm not going to let you waste your time when our exam is next week because how am I ever going to copy my own notes?"

Caroline steps forward and places her hands on Elena's shoulders, emphasizing their height difference as she looks down on the brunette, "Help me help _you_," she says seriously and Elena fights hard to hold back her laughter.

"I appreciate the effort, Care, but it's not that easy! I don't think I can sit through a class where Damon and the Professor are going to make googly eyes at each other," Elena explains, finding herself getting angry at just the thought of it, which was ultimately a bad sign.

A really bad sign.

"Look, we'll just sit as far away as possible from Mr. Hot For Teacher, okay? That way you won't have to see any googly eyes."

"Fine," Elena sighs and lets her best friend drag her by the elbow toward Brokeback Literature 101.

Unfortunately the universe has another thing in mind when they discover that the only available seats left in the humungous lecture theatre are the ones in Damon's row.

How freaking convenient.

"Crap," Elena mutters under her breath as she shuffles along the crowded rows, awkwardly apologizing to the pairs of feet that she steps on.

They finally sit down a few seats away from Damon, with Elena hoping against hope that he wouldn't notice.

No such luck.

Damon turns his head, raven hair dishevelled in the most perfectly imperfect way, his face brightening at the sight of her. Elena's breath hitches in her throat as he swings his bag onto his shoulder, and gets up to move next to her.

She has no idea why she's freaking out so much. They're supposed to be friends now. It's perfectly normal for him to be able to sit with her during class, so why was she _really_ hell-bent on avoiding him at all costs, especially when there's the prospect of having to see him with someone else?

"Hello, Earth to Elena? Day-dreaming about me again?" Damon's obnoxious voice snaps her out of her reverie as he waves his hand in front of her face.

"Oh, shut up," she snaps.

"Is she really this rude all the time?" he leans over Elena, the side of his firm arm brushing up against her breasts as he whispers to Caroline conspiratorially.

Elena rolls her eyes at his deliberate move to feel her up, hiding the fact that her body is clearly reacting to his close proximity. She desperately hopes that he doesn't feel a couple of things poking against his hard biceps.

"Only when she hasn't gotten any in a while," Caroline whispers back mischievously, as if Elena wasn't there at all. Elena's eyes bulge in embarrassment as she stomps on Caroline's foot in retaliation (a common occurrence in this class).

Damon gives Elena a wink and leans back on his seat in satisfaction.

What an ass.

Elena's continued grumbles are interrupted by Professor Smith striding into the room, and sure enough, his gaze lands longingly on the gorgeous boy with ice blue eyes and alabaster skin.

She feels a certain smugness in the fact that Damon seems unaffected by the extra attention, his concentration currently on doodling obscene pictures on the corner of – her notebook?

She snatches it out of his grasp just as he finishes a very detailed drawing with an unnecessary caption of "Boobies" underneath. He pouts with his deliciously pink bottom lip, giving her the sudden urge to take it in between her teeth.

She mentally slaps herself for having unsavoury thoughts so early in the morning, and forces herself to instead pay attention to Professor Smith droning on and on.

Suddenly she sees something that sends all of her dirty Damon musings out of the window.

Either Elena's overly imaginative mind is playing tricks on her or did she just catch the Professor send her a death glare to end all death glares?

She feels chills run down her spine, worrying frantically about the possibility of bursting into flames right then and there because of that look alone.

"— I have the results for last week's assignments so I will be calling you up one by one to hand them back to you. If you have any questions about the exam next week, please feel free to ask them. And I do hope that all of you will use this hour wisely by revising all of the previous material," Professor Smith announces, shooting another venomous look her way, and okay, she did _not _just imagine that.

Before Elena knows it, her name is being called and she's nervously making her way toward Professor Smith's desk to receive her mark.

He hands her assignment back to her wordlessly, not bothering to make any eye-contact, but Elena's attention to his cold demeanour shifts to the offending letter splattered on her paper.

She suddenly feels all of the anger and frustration from the past few weeks rising up to the surface.

This was the last straw and she was on the verge of Hulk-ing out.

"A _C+_? You've _got_ to be kidding me!" she asks incredulously.

"I can assure you that I'm not, Miss Gilbert," Professor Smith answers coolly, not looking up from his oh-so-important notes.

"I am a _writer_, Professor. I give a 110% with every piece that I do, this has got to be a mistake."

"Well, you obviously put in 75% percent this time."

She gapes at him with her hands balled into fists, nearly shaking in anger. None of this made any _sense_.

"How about Damon Salvatore? I'm sure he's the _top_ of the class, am I right?" Elena spits out, the look of horror evident on his face.

"Elena!" she hears Caroline hiss from behind her, indicating that the entire room was very much aware of the commotion at the front.

Who was she and what did she do to Elena Gilbert?

"Now, you know very well that I'm not permitted to give out information about other student's grades," Professor Smith answers stiffly. She sees a vein throbbing at his temple.

"Damon may give A+ orgasms but I don't think that should be the judge of – "

"I BEG YOUR PARDON, MISS GILBERT?"

On the verge of deliriously laughing at her own boldness, she ignores Professor Smith by turning on her heel, and bolts right out of the lecture theatre. She doesn't bother to look back at Damon or Caroline's dumbfounded expressions.

Once she reaches the hallway, she breathes a sigh of relief to find that it's mostly deserted. She leans her head back on the cold stone pillars, taking a moment to revel in the crazy, impossible events that had just transpired.

Judging on how she's acting, she can't possibly be –

Suddenly she hears the door of the lecture room open, followed by heavy footsteps coming toward her. She closes her eyes, having a fairly good idea on whom it might be.

"Are you _fucking_ insane? What the hell was that?" Damon calls out after her. She turns her head to see his cheeks as scarlet as ever, blue eyes darkening and all she can think of is how angry is a really good look on him.

Heck, everything's a good look on him.

"Favouritism! Injustice, take your pick!" she retorts, shooting him a matching glare as he comes closer to her.

Soon enough, they find themselves face to face, totally disregarding any thoughts of personal space.

"Favo — what? Are you kidding me? I thought I made it perfectly clear that I didn't sleep with Elijah for the grades. Do you think that lowly of me?" he asks exasperatedly, and she almost detects a tinge of hurt in his voice.

"No! I know, I know. It just, it doesn't make it –," she cuts herself off, her eyes widening.

_It doesn't make it hurt less._

"It doesn't make it _what_, Elena?" he demands, resting his hands on either side of her head, boxing her in. She feels her knees begin to buckle, and she's thankful that the stone pillar behind her is holding her up.

Does he even know what he's doing to her right now?

She decides not to answer him, because if she does, she's sure to blurt out something that she'll regret. Something that she hasn't even admitted to herself yet.

"I just don't want you throwing away all of your hard work in this course, just because you decided to throw a freaking temper tantrum about not getting the grade that you wanted. I mean, it kind of looks to me that you're jea –"

Before she knows it, she's grabbing onto the thin fabric of his shirt, and pulls him into a forceful kiss. He quickly recovers from the shock as she opens her mouth up to him, sliding her tongue along his. He moans as her hands travel up from his chest, past his shoulders, and around to grab onto the hair at the nape of his neck.

And then something in her mind clicks, and she's pulling away as quickly as she started the kiss. He looks at her in confusion, lips swollen from her suckling on them and she's never seen him look more beautiful in her life. What was she _doing_?

"What was that for?" he asks hoarsely, stepping back, and they're barely touching now.

"I just wanted to shut you up," she replies and he barks out a laugh.

"A shut up kiss? For a writer, you're kind of obvious," he snarks back.

The tightening in her chest loosens, thankful for him reverting back to their usual joking mode.

"Well, you had me up against the wall, what was I supposed to do?" she blurts out, wincing at the change of his expression. He leers at her but doesn't move any closer.

"I'm going to be the gentleman here and not give my non-PG-13 response to that," he replies, "So are you coming back to class or what? Your bag's still there, along with your pink fluffy diary that I haven't had the pleasure of reading yet. Did you write any more about my ability to give A+ orgasms?"

"Ugh, I was hoping you didn't hear that."

* * *

><p>Elena knows this is borderline pathetic, stalking her own best friend but after their Mod Lit lecture (where she apologizedgrovelled at Professor Smith's feet, a surprisingly successful outcome, although she was still wary of that floppy haired grump), Caroline had cancelled their lunch date for a "super important thing" with her business management class. A very poor, very vague excuse, one that Elena knows is completely untrue, thanks to her brilliant skills of deduction i.e. Caroline's Facebook wall, wherein Elena saw Caroline post a single heart and smiley face at 11:55am.

Who did Caroline think she was kidding?

So now Elena finds herself standing by the window at the _awful_ Starbucks, where she can see her traitor of a best friend in line whilst holding the offending Starbucks flask like she was a freaking fanatic, or even worse, a _regular_.

"Boo!" a familiar voice makes Elena jump and clutch at her chest.

"Jeez, Damon!" she says in annoyance and lightly hits his arm with the back of her hand.

"You're looking very suspicious, Elena. Spying on the competition! Isn't that against barista code or something?" he asks, giving her a lopsided grin which she did _not_ need right now.

She turns her attention back to the window just in time to see Caroline walking up to the counter to place her order. A handsome boy with light brown hair serves her, his eyes lighting up as Caroline giggles girlishly at one of his jokes.

"Oh my god, that must be turtle boy!"

"Turtle boy?" Damon asks amusedly.

Suddenly his eyebrows shoot up, and Elena turns her head back to see Caroline sealing the deal as she tongues the _enemy_.

"Well would you look at that? I always thought my brother was gay, to be honest."

"Your _brother?_

"No wonder he didn't speak to me for days after I set him up with that dude last year. I thought little Stefan was _so _ungrateful."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey all! Thank you again for all of your kind reviews, reading them always makes my day. You guys are awesome! **

**I originally planned on making this fic 10 chapters maximum, but I realized that I had to fill in a few more things before I got to the semi-big finale. So yes, this is the second last chapter of my crazy little college tale lol. Thanks for sticking through it with me. I really appreciate it. **

**If you love or even hate this chapter, please review! It means the world to me. Enjoy!**

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><p>The mid-term madness is getting to Elena, that's for sure. Not only does she have to study on the ground, cramped in between bookshelves filled with a thousand year old encyclopaedias, but the electrical outlet on the wall doesn't even work, so she has to resort to using the internet on her phone once her laptop dies. She guesses that she should at least be a <em>little <em>grateful for finding such a secluded spot in the overstressed and overcrowded library but...

Sigh.

And no, going back and studying at her apartment is not an option. Not when her traitorous best friend has company over for her research project, and by "company" she really means "Secret Ninja Turtle Starbucks Lover", and by "research project" she really means "12 hour sex marathon."

The blonde still hasn't spilled the beans yet, by the way, which is just plain rude and inconsiderate, Elena thinks. Even when Elena quizzes her on the variety of espresso beverages Starbucks has, in comparison to the Mystic Bean, Caroline barely bats a mascara coated eyelash!

Who knew, right? Caroline Forbes, the impenetrable fortress! Well…with Turtle Boy as the obvious exception, as he has clearly penetrated that fortress one too many times.

Anyway. Ew.

Back to studying.

Just then, she hears a shuffling of footsteps, a deep rumble of voices edging nearer, and she has half the mind to tell them to properly "_Fuck off_" because this is _her_ spot, and she's not willing to share. That is, until, she hears a name that stops her from using up her embarrassing moment quota of the day.

"What about, Elena?" she hears that familiar velvety voice say her name like a caress, making her stiffen.

Miraculously, she stands up without a sound (or knocking any of the books off the shelf, for that matter), and peers through the space in between.

Her eyes widen as she takes in the scene before her.

She sees the well-defined profile of Damon Salvatore leaning casually against the wall, and smirking up at a noticeably distressed Professor Smith.

"You _know _what! I let her slide last time _just for you_, but you are way too infatuated to notice just how dangerous she is." Professor Smith says through gritted teeth, tightly grabbing onto the lapels of Damon's leather jacket.

"Elena? Dangerous? Now, I don't know about that…" Damon answers nonchalantly.

It takes all of Elena's willpower not to blurt out just how wrong he is. She settles on glaring at him icily from behind her shield of books.

"This is not the time for your jokes, Damon! She practically exposed us to my entire lecture, who knows what she'll do to me next?"

"Hardly anyone listens to her, Elijah. You have nothing to worry about."

Elena suddenly feels like she had just been punched in the gut.

_Hardly anyone listens to her?_

That self-absorbed _son of a bitch_. How dare he?

She really doesn't need to see this…at all…ever. But for some stupid reason she can't seem to bring herself to freaking _move_. If only her iPod didn't die a few hours ago, she could have drowned them out with her "study playlist" (aka One Direction album).

Fuck her life.

"But what happens if we _do_ get caught, huh?" Professor Smith asks anxiously, and she notices that annoying vein throbbing at the side of his forehead again.

How could Damon ever find that attractive enough to bang?

"Maybe if we actually stopped sleeping together, there wouldn't be any risk of getting caught at all. It's not like anyone has proof," Damon answers matter-of-factly, his calm manner posing as a stark contrast to the Professor's growing agitation.

Professor Smith gapes at him in shock.

"Wh-what are you saying? That we end this? How could you even suggest something like that?"

"It's kind of the obvious choice to keep you from losing your job, don't you think?" Damon says, as Professor Smith slides his hands up to cup Damon's face. Elena suddenly feels sick to the stomach.

"Look, meet me at my office in an hour and tell me if you're still willing to go through with this nonsense while you're inside me," Professor Smith says demandingly, and captures Damon's lips in an agonizingly slow kiss.

WHAT IN THE HELL?

Elena clamps her hand on the edge of the book shelf to steady herself, her eyes burning at the disgusting display of affection.

Tonight was definitely going on her Worst Nights Ever list.

* * *

><p>She decides to flee from the library after witnessing the deleted scene from Queer Poets Society, and takes the rest of the night off from studying. In between bleaching her eyes out, and getting as far away from Damon as possible, she somehow finds herself heading back to the good old reliable, Mystic Bean, an hour before closing.<p>

"Don't you have Caroline to talk to about this stuff? Because I might start hurling into this cappuccino and break a bazillion health and safety codes," Jeremy whines after Elena fills him in on the nightmare that is her life.

"Believe me, I'd rather not be talking to my baby brother about bisexual life ruiners, but you know Damon well enough to 'bro nod' him, and I'm not speaking to Caroline until she confesses that she's sleeping with the enemy!" Elena explains to her brother for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Fine, just please leave out the gory details like how much heat Damon's packing in his pants. I have to see this guy at band practice, you know."

"I tried to censor it for your ears as much as I could! I'm just – I'm kind of desperate right now," Elena sighs hopelessly, resting her chin in her hand at the counter.

"I'll say. Look, Elena, maybe you just need to talk to Damon. I'm sure he didn't mean all the things he said to Professor Douche," says Jeremy, and Elena shakes her head at him, smiling.

"You're taking his side, then. Typical."

"Hey, I'm totally on Team Elena, but all I'm saying is to give him a chance. He's a good guy. Come to our show tomorrow, you'll see," her brother offers.

Elena continues to eye him suspiciously.

"You guys are having a gig tomorrow? I'm so there!" Caroline squeals from behind them, making Elena jump from her stool.

"Awesome! Actually, you should bring as many people as you want. We're hoping for a proper mosh pit this time," Jeremy answers, his face lighting up at just the thought of it.

"Sure, but don't expect me and my new Louboutins to be anywhere near that hot mess, am I right, Elena?"

"Totally," Elena replies, whilst covertly scrutinizing the blonde's appearance for any unbuttoned buttons or unzipped zippers. Unfortunately, she was as immaculately dressed as ever, with her golden hair perfectly kempt as per usual. Damn it.

"Anyway, could I please have my usual iced latte to go? I'm supposed to be having a _short _coffee break," Caroline adds in a stage whisper.

"You sure you don't want to order a second cup?" Elena asks, narrowing her eyes at Little Miss Clueless.

"What makes you say that?" Caroline asks in confusion.

Really, Care? So she's not going to give her even the tiniest hint. Unbelievable!

"Oh nothing, nothing. I'm going to go out for some air anyway, maybe stop by _Starbucks_!" Elena answers sardonically, and gets off her seat. She swings her bag over her shoulder to leave.

"Hey, we do _not_ say the 'S' word around here. Company policy, remember?" Jeremy calls out as Elena exits the coffeehouse. She waves her hand out in farewell, without turning back.

Once Elena steps out onto the street, she runs her hand through her hair in frustration, and realizes just how angry she really is. She's angry about how her best friend is keeping things from her, how her A grade is being pulled down by a paranoid little bitch of a professor, how much of a complete mess she's been these past few weeks, and of course, Damon freaking Salvatore.

A light breeze flows past and she hugs her bare arms, realizing that she must have left her jacket in the Mystic Bean.

Screw it. Caroline could bring it back to the apartment after the "after sex coffee break". She owed Elena at least that.

As Elena reaches halfway down the street, outside of the second hand bookstore, her phone starts to play the first few chords of "One Thing" (okay, so she totally caught the 1D bug, don't judge), and she's suddenly thankful that all of the shops are closed.

She fishes her phone out of her pocket and sighs at the name flashing on the screen. She might as well get this over with.

"So the film kids are screening Gone with the Wind at the campus square tonight," Damon greets, and she hates how well he knows her already.

"Sorry, Damon, but I'm totally swamped with studying. Way too busy," she replies in a clipped voice.

"You sure? It's only a four hour long classic," he chuckles.

"I'm sure. The surest of sure—"

She suddenly feels a pair of strong arms around her waist, and before she can blow her rape whistle, she turns around, and is met by the cerulean blue eyes that have been plaguing her for so long.

"Nice ringtone, by the way," Damon says huskily, as she feels his warm breath on her lips.

"Thanks," she answers breathlessly, and suddenly, he's dipping his head down to capture her lips with his own. She parts her lips in surprise, and he deepens the kiss, his tongue massaging hers, and yes she's frustrated, but the kiss feels like a release. She lets herself go for just that moment.

He deserves a stinging slap or some kind of damage on his perfect face. Instead, she pulls on his dark locks harder than needed, and she feels a little satisfaction. He groans in pleasure all the same.

He breaks the kiss, only to continue down her neck, his wondrous mouth making her skin hum. The strap of her tank top hangs loosely off her left shoulder, and she has a feeling that it will soon be tugged down.

That's it. She has to end this dirty public make out, and _quickly_.

"What are you doing?" she gasps, as he licks in between the swell of her breasts.

"What do you think?" he mumbles against her skin.

"No. What – are – you - _doing!_" she says with more force, stepping away from his reach.

Damon looks at her with his eyebrows furrowed, completely perplexed.

"You assaulted me with _your_ mouth the other day; I'm just returning the favour," he answers.

"Not when I don't know where your mouth has been! It could have been wrapped around someone's co–"

"Excuse me?" he cuts her off in anger.

"You know what? Even if I know what you've been doing, no one will listen to me anyway, so you don't have to worry!" she spits back.

"Wait... were you – were you at the library tonight?" he asks weakly.

"I'm just tired of people lying to me or leading me on, okay? I thought out of all people, you'd understand," she replies, and turns on her heel to leave. She feels her eyes start to sting in the wind.

"Please, just come to our gig tomorrow, Elena, I'll explain," he calls out after her.

"I'd rather drink Starbucks!"


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Okay, so I know that I said that this would be the last chapter but (partially thanks to Daisy/LokYa2046) I've decided to split it into two parts, just so the length of each chapter is slightly more consistent. I apologize if there's less Damon/DE in this one, but there will be a whole lot more of him in the second part ;) This is mostly setting up what's to come in the final chapter so bear with me.**

**I know it's kind of late but I would also like to add that this entire fic is un-beta'd so all of the grammatical errors are my own lol. **

**Anyway, enjoy and please review! **

* * *

><p>Elena knows that it's only a matter of time until Caroline slips up and blows her cover, but she most definitely does not expect to witness it being blown so completely, and in every way possible.<p>

Yeah, gross. She went there.

She also most definitely does not want to witness her best friend doing the nasty with Turtle Boy on their poor, helpless couch first thing in the morning…or at any time, for that matter.

But desperate times call for desperate measures, and catching Blondie red-handed is about the only thing Elena has going for her right now.

"AHA!" she exclaims triumphantly, and the moment is finally warranted, as she stands in their living room, slightly crazy-eyed with her finger pointing at the bizarre-o, bunny eared role-play type sex act being performed before her.

"HOLY SHIT."

"OH MY GOD, ELENA! GET OUT!" Caroline shrieks, trying to cover up her modesty with their fluffy purple couch cushion, completely clashing with the hot pink bunny ears placed on her head.

Meanwhile Turtle Boy attempts to hide behind Caroline's small frame, his face nearly the same colour as said bunny ears.

"It serves you right for lying to me, bitch!" Elena retorts, and she knows she's being childish, but Caroline seriously had it coming after all the sneaking around.

This is payback. The permanently scarring mental images and intensive therapy that Elena was going to endure will be all the more worth it.

"Look, I'm really, really sorry for lying to you, Elena, but can we please discuss this when we're not buck ass nude?" Caroline pleads in desperation, clutching at the cushion tightly.

Elena narrows her eyes but turns around to accommodate the two idiots, because okay, seeing Turtle Boy's actual turtle and the boobs of her best friend of fifteen years wasn't exactly awakening anything in her – except maybe the need to dry retch.

Her mind can't help but drift to how Damon would react to this hilarious turn of events, but she stops herself from going any further, because his words still hurt and her lips still burn.

She winces, shaking her head, as if the action could actually erase any thought of that infuriating man from her mind. It doesn't work.

"We're decent now," Caroline's voice says meekly from behind her.

Elena turns around to face them, and sees Caroline looking slightly more dignified sans the bunny ears, whilst Turtle Boy still looks as if he wants the ground from beneath him to swallow him up.

"Elena, this is Stefan. Stefan this is Elena," Caroline gestures between them awkwardly and Elena nearly laughs at Stefan's terrified expression.

"Turtle Boy," Elena answers curtly, making Stefan scrunch his eyebrows in confusion.

Caroline clears her throat and Elena directs her glare back to the blonde.

"I'm so sorry, Elena, but I really didn't want you to find out this way," Caroline says.

"I don't think you ever wanted me to find out at all!" Elena spits back.

"I just – I mean, you can be scary as hell, okay? And I was afraid about how you'd react with me _sleeping with the enemy_!" Caroline explains shrilly.

"The enemy?" Stefan asks, completely dumbfounded.

"You were right to be afraid! You don't lie to your best friends, even if you're ashamed of the person that you're sleeping with, just because he works for the devil and has a mind of a pre-teen boy!" Elena says, ignoring Stefan.

"_Hey_, I'm right here!" Stefan reminds them.

"Oh my god, Elena! See! That's what I'm talking about," Caroline says in frustration, taking a beat, she continues, "…but I guess you're right."

"Thank you!" Elena sighs.

"WHAT?" Stefan gasps in shock.

"I shouldn't be ashamed of someone that I'm in love with," the blonde confesses.

"You're in love with me?" he chokes.

"FOR GOD'S SAKE, SHUT UP, STEFAN!" Caroline scolds and shoots him a filthy look, as if she hadn't just professed her love.

And at that very moment, Elena finally understands how perfect they are for each other.

"So…forgiven?" Caroline asks Elena slowly, her expression brimming with hope.

Elena rolls her eyes and nods, "Just disinfect that couch, okay?" she warns.

"Thank god!" Caroline exclaims and lunges forward for a hug, but Elena keeps her at arms length.

"Uh-uh. No hugs until I've completely washed my eyes out. I can still picture you guys naked, literally screwing like rabbits," Elena shudders.

"Oh, you know you love it!"

"No. I can assure you that I don't."

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><p>It's another slow day at the Mystic Bean, and even though Elena can probably handle her shift on her own, Caroline insists that she's also needed there for the study break rush.<p>

Elena suspects that the blonde's sudden improved work ethic is partly out of guilt, but she welcomes the company all the same. Plus, Elena realizes just how much she's missed having proper conversations with her best friend, so much so that she soon fills Caroline in on the "Damon Situation."

"That _dick_! Elena, I'm so sorry that you had to go through this on your own. I should have been there for you! I was being so selfish, because Stefan may not look it but he's a total freak in the sheets…"

"It's fine, really, Care. I'll get over it. Just please, don't _ever _say those words again," Elena reassures her best friend, wincing as her mind flashes back to the image of Caroline and Stefan going at it on the very couch that she occasionally naps on.

She also eats her food at that couch sometimes. The nerve!

"Okay, gotcha, still too soon. But I really mean it, Elena. How does manicures, Chunky Monkey and Season 1 Lost sound?" Caroline offers.

"No! No more Lost. I just realized how much my perfect Boone resembles that man slut," Elena groans, burying her face in her hands.

"Oh my god, you're right. I bet Damon loves that."

"He certainly does. Damon loves the thought of it so much that he'd sleep with him," Elena scoffs, with a roll of her eyes.

"Wow, he's as weird as you," Caroline mutters under her breath.

"What was that?" Elena snaps.

"Nothing."

As if on cue, Elena glimpses a familiar dark figure through the window of the coffeehouse. Panicking, she ducks down behind the counter just in time, bumping Caroline's legs in the process.

"What the – oh my god! I mean hi, Damon," Caroline squeaks, and Elena has half the mind to jab her in the leg with a spork for almost blowing her cover.

"Hey, Caroline, is Elena working today?" she hears Damon's voice say from above, and she desperately tries to control her breathing so he doesn't notice that the person he's looking for is actually cowering underneath the counter top.

"Nope, it's her day off. But it's not like she wants to see your mug anyway," Caroline answers scathingly.

"I was afraid of that. Look, Caroline, just _please_ make sure that she makes it to the show tonight at the Blood Lines? I need to explain everything to her. I just…I just need her," Damon pleads and Elena can just feel him giving Caroline the irresistibly blue, puppy eyes.

Elena suddenly wishes that she had the ability to mentally will Caroline not to crack under this kind of pressure, although she fears that it might just be too late.

But his last few words…

Was he in fact, being sincere? Does he really, genuinely…_need_ her?

She tries to calm the fluttering in her stomach.

"I—I can't guarantee that, Damon. You know our Elena, she's pretty stubborn," Caroline jokes lightly.

Now that definitely deserves a spork jab! Traitor!

"Ouch," Caroline hisses, but quickly regains her composure. Elena rolls her eyes.

"Oh I know alright. She drives me _up the wall_," he says, and Elena wonders if she's the only one that can catch the sexual innuendo.

"Just don't get your hopes up about her coming," Caroline replies.

_Coming_? Don't say words like that, Caroline. Don't add more fuel to the sex crazed fire!

"Well, she hasn't disappointed me before, isn't that right, Elena?" Damon adds, and it's as if someone has just poured ice cold water down her back.

She slowly looks up to meet his stupidly smug face leaning over the counter.

What sorcery is this?!

"Hi," she says blankly, completely numb from her spot on the floor. She finds it surprising that she even has the ability to form basic words.

"Hi," he greets back, his smirk turning into a fully-fledged grin.

"Oh wow, look Elena's here! Yay, Elena!" Caroline adds, failing miserably to break the sudden tension in the air.

Nice try, Caroline.

"So are you _coming_ tonight?" he prods.

"Depends on the likelihood of you getting hit by a bus on the way," Elena answers in deadpan, mentally congratulating herself for the speedy comeback.

Damon laughs, "Sounds like a yes to me."

"I think you have a hearing disability."

"O_kay_, I think it's time for you to go, Damon. Unless you actually want to order something," Caroline cuts them off before Elena starts to attack Damon with her spork weapon.

"I'm good…for now," he replies, leaving the two girls to gape after him. Elena hates just how much he exudes mystery and sex. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"What the hell was that?" Elena asks, standing up angrily and brushing herself off from the utter humiliation.

"I'm sorry! It was the baby blues, I think they have powers!" Caroline says defensively.

"Ugh. You're the worst." Elena groans.

"So… are you going to the gig?" her best friend asks innocently.

"Probably," the brunette utters in reluctance.

"Excellent! All we need is the perfect dress!" Caroline says, fist pumping the air.

"I was afraid that you'd say that."


End file.
